State records guide

Title research in Texas

Facts below are taken from Texas statutes and official sources, each linked, each checked on the date shown. General information, not legal advice.

What a Texas title search has to account for

Why does the first Tuesday matter for a Texas foreclosure?

A Texas deed of trust with a power of sale is usually foreclosed without a court case. Property Code section 51.002 has the trustee sell at public auction between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month, or the first Wednesday if that Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4. Except as subsection (h) provides, the sale is at the county courthouse, in the area the commissioners court designates, and land in more than one county may be sold at the courthouse in any of them.

Not every Texas lien works this way. Article XVI, section 50(a)(6)(D) of the Texas Constitution says a home equity lien may be foreclosed only by a court order, and section 50(k)(11) has a similar rule for certain reverse mortgage foreclosures.

For a bidder, that calendar sets the research window. Our auction title research package reports the foreclosing lien's position and the liens that would survive the sale, in dollars.

The Texas State Law Library page linked in the table explains that a right of redemption exists only for specific foreclosures, such as certain tax lien and property owners association assessment lien foreclosures. A borrower sold out under a deed of trust gets no statutory period to buy the home back. Section 51.016 is a separate rule: it lets a nonjudicial sale of residential property be rescinded within 15 calendar days, on that section's conditions.

What does a Texas tax sale actually convey?

Tax Code section 34.01 has the officer charged with selling the property sell it after a tax lien foreclosure judgment or a tax warrant. Subsection (n) says the deed vests title in the purchaser to the interest the defendant owned, subject only to the right of redemption and the recorded restrictive covenants, covenant liens and easements that subsection lists.

That redemption right is the part a bidder has to price. Section 34.21 applies to a sale to a purchaser other than a taxing unit. The owner of a residence homestead or of land designated for agricultural use when the suit or the warrant application was filed, or of a mineral interest, can redeem until the second anniversary of the day the purchaser's deed is filed for record, paying the bid and costs plus a premium of 25 percent in the first year and 50 percent in the second. Other real property carries a 180 day window, with a premium that may not exceed 25 percent. Property bid off to a taxing unit has its own rules in that section.

Which period applies turns partly on how the property was used when the suit or application was filed, which the record may not show. The report flags a tax deed in the chain, lists the recorded easements it finds with images, and leaves that question to the client's attorney.

How does community property change a Texas vesting?

Texas is a community property state. Family Code sections 3.002 and 3.003 make property acquired by either spouse during marriage community property unless it is separate, and presume that anything a spouse possesses during or at the end of a marriage is community. A deed that names one spouse does not settle ownership between the spouses on its own.

Section 3.104 protects outsiders. Property held in one spouse's name is presumed subject to that spouse's sole management, and a third person dealing with that spouse may rely on that authority if the third person is not a party to a fraud and has no actual or constructive notice of a lack of authority.

For a buyer or a lender, the report reads the chain of title with images and reports how each owner took title, with any recorded divorce decree or separate property schedule it finds. An attorney decides whether a spouse who is not on the deed holds an interest.

Can a Texas owner pass real property at death without probate?

Yes, by a recorded transfer on death deed. The Texas Real Property Transfer on Death Act, linked above, lets an individual transfer an interest in real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at death. The deed works only if it was recorded in the deed records of the county where the property sits before the owner died.

For an heir or a buyer dealing with a deceased owner, the search cannot stop at the will. The statute says a will may not revoke or supersede a transfer on death deed. Our probate title search package finds the decedent's property by name and reports vesting at death and how title passes, with images.

The land does not always pass free of the estate. Estates Code section 114.106 lets the personal representative enforce creditor claims, administration expenses, estate tax and family allowances against the property when the estate is insufficient. Where no such deed was recorded, the report states what it finds, such as an affidavit of heirship or an order admitting a will to probate.

Where does a condominium association's lien rank in Texas?

Behind a first deed of trust recorded before the assessment went delinquent, in the usual case. Property Code section 82.113(b) ranks a condominium association's assessment lien ahead of other liens except property taxes and governmental charges, liens recorded before the declaration, a first vendor's lien or first deed of trust recorded before the assessment went delinquent, and, unless the declaration provides otherwise, certain construction liens and assignments of insurance proceeds. Chapter 82 applies to declarations recorded on or after January 1, 1994, with separate terms for older condominiums.

For a bidder at a condominium association foreclosure the same statute adds a wrinkle: the unit owner may redeem not later than the 90th day after the sale. Other associations differ. Section 209.011 lets an owner redeem from a purchaser at a property owners association assessment foreclosure not later than the 180th day after the association mails written notice of the sale, and gives a lienholder of record its own timing. What a given sale leaves in place is for a Texas attorney.

What records does the report pull in a Texas county?

Property Code section 11.001 has an instrument relating to real property recorded in the county in which a part of the property is located, and the state has 254 counties. Section 11.004 has the clerk correctly record, within a reasonable time after delivery, any instrument authorized or required to be recorded.

Not every lien sits there. Tax Code section 32.01(d) perfects a tax lien on attachment with no further action, and Property Code section 82.113(c) says recording the declaration perfects a condominium assessment lien with no other recordation.

We trace the chain of title as far back as the county's records go, with document images of the key instruments, and verify findings with the assessor, tax office, recorder and courts. The collector for a parcel may be the county assessor-collector or another taxing unit's collector under Tax Code sections 6.22 and 6.23.

Which package fits a Texas property?

Every package covers Texas property wherever it is recorded. Pick by situation:

• Probate law firm: Find every property a decedent held, how it was vested and what has to be paid before it passes. $595 per estate.
• Real estate law firm: A preliminary report with schedule-style exceptions and print-ready exhibits for your matter. $695 per property.
• Builders and developers: Multi-parcel research on access, easements, restrictions, mineral reservations and entity ownership. $995 first parcel.
• Auction buyer: Know the total cost to own, which liens survive the sale and whether to bid at all. $395 for 1 property.
• Home buyer: Confirm the seller owns the home and learn what has to be cleared before you pay. $449 per property.
• Home seller: Find the old mortgage, judgment or name mismatch before a buyer's title company does. $449 per property.

Questions about Texas title research